01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, June 15, 2006

MINNEAPOLIS -- Red Sox players and fans aren't the only ones impressed with Jonathan Papelbon.

"He's been a savior," said first baseman Kevin Millar, who left Boston last year to sign with the Baltimore Orioles. "He's been big time for them, especially in that city and that market."

"I think the biggest thing about Papelbon is right away you know he's got an explosive fastball," Baltimore hitting coach Terry Crowley said. "But then, the amount of strikes he throws is remarkable for a young guy in a pressure situation.

"He comes in and pounds the strike zone. And right about the time you start to get his heater timed, he drops a split-finger on you, that the bottom falls out of it."

Millar said Papelbon basically uses a two-pitch arsenal now -- a fastball and the split-fingered fastball, which is slower and drops dramatically on its way to home plate.

"We faced him early in the year, and I didn't realize how good his split was until I actually faced him," Millar said. "It's as good as anybody's right now. I don't know if [Curt] Schilling helped him or what."

"That's a hard-core environment [at Fenway], and a lot of things can go wrong in that ballpark with the short wall," Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "You have to have some courage, and obviously he's got some courage. Along with some great pitches."